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Lost Decades: Postindependence Performance in Latin America and Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2007

Robert H. Bates ,
John H. Coatsworth  and
Jeffrey G. Williamson
Robert H. Bates
Affiliation:
Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Department of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138. E-mail: rbates@latte.harvard.edu.
John H. Coatsworth
Affiliation:
Professor of History and International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, 118th Street, New York, NY 10027. E-mail: jhc2125@columbia.edu.
Jeffrey G. Williamson
Affiliation:
Laird Bell Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; Research Fellow, CEPR; and Research Associate, NBER. E-mail: jwilliam@fas.harvard.edu.
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Abstract

Africa and Latin America secured independence from European colonial rule a century and half apart: most of Latin America by the 1820s and most of Africa by 1960. Despite the distance in time and space, they share important similarities. In each case independence was followed by political instability, violent conflict, and economic stagnation lasting for about a half-century. The parallels suggest that Africa might be exiting from a period of postimperial collapse and entering one of relative political stability and economic growth, as did Latin America almost two centuries ago.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 67 , Issue 4 , December 2007 , pp. 917 - 943
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2007

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